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A former Department of Public Safety officer was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for killing an ASU student during while pursuing another vehicle.

Judge John Gaylord handed down the sentence, which also included four years probation, to 32-year-old Christopher Valdez.

Computer systems engineering junior Evan Shelly was killed Sept. 25 in Mesa after Valdez struck Shelly's car while chasing a stolen vehicle.

Valdez had been told by DPS to stop the pursuit but continued even though it is against DPS policy. Valdez was originally charged with vehicular manslaughter, which carries a maximum of 21 years in prison, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of negligent homicide in March.

The victim's mother, Mary Shelly, said she and her family are disappointed by the short sentence and think Valdez is getting special treatment for being an officer.

"He killed my son. It's unbelievable," she said. "If you or I had done the same thing, we would have gotten more than just six months in jail."

She is working with her lawyer to sue the DPS for $5 million in a civil suit. She's also hoping to create a legislative bill that would prohibit officers from chasing suspects unless there were a life-threatening situation.

DPS information officer Frank Valenzuela said that if the department's policy were followed, the tragedy would not have occurred.

"Getting a law passed that would prohibit pursuit doesn't accomplish much except tell the criminal element to do whatever they want to do unless they are endangering someone," he said.

Reach the reporter at stinavee@asu.edu.


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